Pages

So, here's the idea. Much like tricks, there's junk, and then the stuff you have to do to that junk. If you have stuff in the room already, you can just pick an item, and roll on the table. If not, roll on the random junk table (which doubles as a random junk table) and then roll on the stuff you do table. Many of the actions (the first 66) were cribbed from the wonderful Endless Bag of Tricks, by Roger S. G. Sorolla over at Roles, Rules, and Rolls.

Some results are nonsense, simply re-roll (lie down on balls? Smear the throne?). The tables can be used individually also, such as for the subjects of artistic works.

Some Examples:
(95,25,20) There is a mosaic of a hippogriff that is damp. When the trap is triggered mercury drips down and slides in into a series of tiny holes in the ground. Drying off the mosaic will slow the mercury down enough to bypass the trap before it is triggered.
(13,27,82) There is a small statue of an angel sitting as if it's awaiting a gift on top a tall armoire, out of sight of the characters. Simply place any object near the angel, and it will spin, dropping into the back of the cabinet, disarming the trap.
(22,97,60) There is a small icon of a horse, with a cord looped around it's mouth held tightly between its teeth. The cord runs into the wall. Prying the cord out and letting it retract to the wall, will cause the trap to be disarmed.

This room appears to be a moldy, long disused den. There are several pieces of damp rotted furniture, some sort of slick damp mold on the floor and rotted papers and logs. The doors are made of steel, and there are no windows. The only suspicious thing in the room is a small fireplace roaring with a warm blaze, behind an open grate.

If the player characters approach the grate, they will note that it is of the kind used to prevent sparks from damaging carpet, though it is open and not doing it's job. It doesn't appear that there is any carpet to burn, the only indications that a carpet was ever here are some moldy threads. The grate is attached to the wall. It appears to be a dark oily color. The grate is actually made of solid platinum, coated in gold, and has a value of 200gp/dungeon level. In order to discover this, a player must either attempt to clean it off, or break it off from its moorings on the wall.

Mandala

The fire itself seems to be raging, and keeping the small area near the fireplace dry. If the players look or gaze into the fire they see the floating image of a mandala with glowing lines. Behind this they also see a vision of a room filled with treasure. Their view pans through this room, moving around looking at various items until settling in front of an exquisite golden chalice. The mandala transparently overlaid on the chalice is actually map of how to reach the hidden treasure room. The chalice floats in front of the players and seems incredibly real.

If anyone reaches out to touch the chalice, after they burn their hands; the mantle opens up and a small demonic mouth made of granite and glass sprays a silky mist over the party members. They then become cursed with hyper-hydrosis, and require extra water every day, as well as having anything drop out of their hands due to sweating whenever they roll a 1.

If the fire is extinguished, the doors slam shut and lock, and the gate to the elemental plane of water is no longer shut. A Water Elemental of greater hit dice then the party shows up and attacks. If killed, another will continue to reappear until the fire is re-lit. Not an easy task, due to the excessive wetness in the room. An even more difficult one if they happen to suffer from Hyper-hydrosis.

First 50 hooks are here.
I haven't combined these into 1 table, so you may roll d100, and if it's over 50, subtract 50 and use that value here. Or use either table and divide by 2. Or pick.

There's a slave underground that runs right through this dungeon. And you're going to get your property back.

Give up immortality for eternal love they said. It seemed worth it at the time, but after the divorce, they can burn in hell for all you care. Only one way to get your immortality back, and maybe send them to hell to boot.

So, you've got the information your demon master needed, but those jerks burnt down your lab. You've heard there's a way to reach him down below, so off you go

Ah, Monday, time to beat back the endless hordes of the damned. Hours could be better, but, eh, it's a living.

Where else am I supposed to collect my spiders?!

Elves ruin everything. Surely their won't be any down below.

And they said you'd never collect a gold coin from every empire in the tolemic era! Why you know for sure this hole in the ground goes through the ruins of the previous five cities before this. Five! You shouldn't have to go any deeper than level 7.

It's not your fault you didn't want to join the church like daddy. You'll just go and bring back the largest gem he's ever seen and he'll eat his words then.

You thought it was so cool that his job was 'ancient artifact negotiation and acquisition'. You didn't realize that meant murdering things in decrepit holes in the ground. Since your husband hasn't come back, you're going to go find him and rescue him, or maybe kill him. You haven't decided yet.

You'll avenge your brothers and sisters! All 12 of them!

He wants me to collect what before he'll let me marry his daughter?

You weren't no goods with numbas or maths before yu mama dropped you on your head anyways. And they needs the monies so your gonna go get them sums from that hole people keep coming out of with the monies.

I have this deed for property here, and I was wonder- You mean down that stairway?

You're best friends with a goblin, it's true. And now he's disappeared. It's likely he's in trouble. Probably something to do with the trolls on level 3.

Every single member of your tribe dead. Only below can you achieve the means of revenge.

If I hadn't lost so much money on dog racing, I woudn't be messing around trying to steal a dog from The Kennel of Gold Tales!

Killing your sister was an accident. The only way to cleanse your soul is to reach the Mural of Judgment.

You only need one Arcanite stone, but as long as you're there, nothing stopping you from getting more. Other than the curse, and who believes in those.

My god can only be worshiped in the Abolished Dark Iron Church. He's the god of, uh, . . . clowns and sunshine. Why do you ask?

All we have to do is to find the Golden Mud Sleep, bottle it up, and sell it for riches! Let me see that map again.

It was this or become the Baron.

I mean, you liked the guy, and it's true his murderer is down there. Just a shame the will said you had to avenge his death. Note to self: a diviner for a mentor is not the best plan.

Matt's a great guy. And Swords and Wizardry is a great game. Anyone who releases his hard work in document format so that people can print it out for free at home with their own house rules written in, is someone who really understands our hobby. He's also the author of a little document that encapsulates everything we do.

Today is Table Week on Hack & Slash. Here are some links to get you started.

The Elements: It's like the Risk you know and love, except you will hate it. There are several major rule changes, including, but not limited to, a maximum time limit on the game and the game being restricted to 4 players.

The Crux: If you are unfamiliar with Risk, you have territories containing armies. You wish to conquer all the other players. You do this by attacking with up to 3 troops (rolling 3 dice) against a defender who can defend with up to 2 troops (rolling 2 dice). Defenders win ties. At the beginning of your turns, you get troops for the number of territories you control and extra troops for any complete continents you control. If you take a terriorty during your turn, you receive cards which can be turned in for additional armies.

The Countenance: In all fairness to the game, there are major major internal changes from traditional risk that I was not prepared for.

My initial plan of blocking in Mordor
was terrible because of terrible defense.

First was the addition of the hero or champion unit. This unit moves with your troops and adds one to the roll of any dice. This seriously threw me for a loop, because it's possible for an attacker to roll high enough (i.e. 7) that the defender can't defend the territory. Now there are 11 territories (out of 44? 45?) that have 'fortresses' in them that do the same things for the defender, but using my favorite traditional strategy like Irkutsk/Yakutsk will get you murdered.

Because the attacker rolls 3 dice AND adds to the highest die with a champion, defenders around most of the board are at a serious disadvantage, except in the case where a champion is on a fortress, raising the highest die by 2!

Things do not look good for team yellow.

I was completely unprepared for this rules change, which turns the traditional odds on their head. Defense in any territory without a fortress is a poor option.

The other changes include the addition of the one ring. Each turn it travels along its path to Mount Doom, and when it reaches the target, the game is over and victory points are tallied. This leads to a shorter game than traditional Risk.

There are also a selection of mission cards, that have certain special effects. Some of these are played immediately, some are held and played at an appropriate time, still others are mission cards and are played when your hero reaches a specific target.

The effects of these cards can be fairly large. One gave me 10 extra units on a fortress (which I managed to immediately lose against a set of defenders). Others allow you to prevent movement across bridges, have the number of troops in a territory cut in half, stop the ring on its journey and other effects.

The Genre: This is a traditional table top board game with a modern twist and a lord of the rings theme.

The Detritus: Having played through this game, I can certainly tell you that my strategy would be much different next time. It is difficult to defend large territory due to the huge advantage attackers get. One of the players said, "You only get two champions", which is true, but in nearly every game of risk I've ever played, the majority of play involves one or two large armies at several points in the game. The odds are swung way towards the attackers advantage.

The Final Counsel: This is a very different game than traditional Risk. This is not necessarily a negative thing. The game is suited for more aggressive players, and the time limit ensures that the game doesn't run on forever. It's safer to sit down and play when you have a few hours. It is limited to 4 players, instead of the traditional six, which is a downside.

I guess the thing that struck me most about it, is that even though you play it like Risk, the drastically different odds make it a different game. Perhaps if it didn't have the name 'Risk' attached, I would have had more positive feelings about it, instead I expected one thing, and got another. (What other company has done that with a favored brand lately? Hmmm. . .)

Special Rules. There may be notations for Lightning, which will often cause deafness and stunning; Fire, which may cause burning; and Acid, which may continue to cause damage. These will be noted in the same format as First Aid, with the effects following the entry. Remember to apply all the effects before the separate special effects to every hit. (i.e. no matter the energy type, entry 9 gives 1d4 pain).
If you are hit by lightning in a place where you have metal armor, read the L+MA entry and apply it, even if it would normally just tear up the armor (i.e. in entry 5, if struck by lightning and wearing a metal helm, go directly to the L+MA entry and apply those effects and only those effects).

(No Entry)

Singed! A small burn scar is left at the location of the player's choosing.

In your haste to cover your face, you let go of what you're holding. Drop anything held in your hands.

The heat and noise leave you disoriented for a moment. You are Dazed for 1 round while you regain your bearing. Pain 1. Lightning: Deaf for 1d6 turns.

The blast glances across your head, deflecting off. If you have a full helmet it is knocked off and destroyed. If not, your skull is encased in energy, leaving you Dazed for a round. Pain 1. Lightning: Deaf for 1d6 turns. Else if L+MA: Stunned for 1 round, Pain 4, Bleed 1, Helmet Melted, -2 Charisma, First Aid: Sickened.

Your body is engulfed in the blast. Your clothing and items are singed, and may be destroyed. Anything flammable smolders and may catch fire. You are Shaken for 1 round by the experience. Make a saving throw for exposed equipment. Bleed 1.Pain 1. Fire: If any die rolled max damage, you are on fire. Acid: roll again on table next round. L+MA: Bleed 1, Pain 4, Stunned for 1d4 rounds.

Hideous acrid fumes cause you to gasp and choke, clutching your throat. You are Stunned for 1 round.

It feels like you've been kicked in the chest. You are knocked off your feet by the force of the blast. You are knocked prone. You are Stunned for 1d4 rounds. Pain 2. Lightning: Deaf for 1d6 turns.

Clothing catches on fire! (or melts from acid). You are on fire! Pain 1d4. Fire: On fire, +1d6 Fire damage. Acid: Do 1d4 damage next round (triggering another roll on the table). Lightning: Deaf for 1d6 turns.

It burns! The pain is horrible and it drives you batty! Act as if under the influence of a Confusion spell. Pain 1d4. First Aid: Confused (1, Strip or run around naked. 2, Scream at the top of your lungs. 3, Attack nearest target. 4, Hurt/attack self.)

You fling your hands up in an attempt to block the attack. They are stripped of flesh and are horribly burnt. Drop anything held in your arm. Second Degree Burns. First Aid: Arm is useless. Pain 3.

You are struck full on in the face by the blast. If you have a full helmet it is knocked off and destroyed. If not, your eyes burn to cinders, leaving you Stunned for a round. Blind. First Aid: Sickened. Pain 2. Lightning: Deaf for 3d6 turns. Else if L+MA: Stunned for 1d4 round, Pain 4, Bleed 1, Helmet Melted, -2 Charisma, Blind. First Aid: Sickened.

Your hand is engulfed. 1d4 fingers are rendered useless. Anything held is must save or be destroyed by melting to the characters hand. Lost Fingers. Second Degree Burns. First Aid: Staggered. Arm is useless. Bleed 1. Pain 1. Lose 1 Dexterity for each lost finger.

There is a searing pain on your arm and then nothing. When you look, all that is left is a charred stump. Roll a 1d6. 1-3 Your hand is burnt to a crisp at the wrist, 4-5 your arm is burnt to a crisp at the elbow. 6 your arm is burnt to a crispat the shoulder. You are stunned for a round. Third Degree Burns. Limb sliced off. Dexterity cut in half. First Aid: Sickened. Bleed 1d4. Pain 1d4.

There is a searing pain on your leg and then nothing. You spin and fall, tearing the burnt stump.Roll a 1d6. 1-2 your leg is burnt to a crispat the ankle, 3-4 your leg is burnt to a crispat the knee, 5-6 your leg is burnt to a crispat the hip. You fall prone. Third Degree Burns. Limb severed. Movement cut in half. First Aid: Sickened. Bleed 1d4. Pain 1d4.

The horrible fate. You live, but just.Third Degree Burns. All Statistics are Halved. First Aid: Sickened. Make a Constitution check or die each round. Bleed 2. Pain 1d4. Fire: On fire, +2d6 Fire damage. Acid: Do 2d4 damage next round (triggering another roll on the table). Lightning: Stunned for 2d4 rounds, Deaf permanently.

You are struck in the neck, which melts in an entertaining fashion. Fire erupts from your mouth as you fall over and die 1d4 rounds later.

Your armor clothing and armor are vaporized, and your skin is roasted off. Your blackened skeleton and musculature flail about the battlefield for another 1d6 rounds before collapsing. You are dead in 1.

Your torso is blasted open, knocking your head and shoulders back to the ground. You die instantly.

Everything goes dark. Your allies see your head instantly vaporize.

Your upper body is consumed in flames or melted. All that is left is a burnt stump on two twitching legs.

The burn doesn't look that bad, but you still die of shock in 1d4 rounds.

The heat causes your body to cook itself, and you vomit up the slush that was your internal organs only moments before your consciousness fades.

You catch fire (or melt) in such a way that it takes a long time to die. You scream and twitch for almost ten minutes before your body finally succumbs to the pain.

You erupt in flame, staggering around for a few feet, before falling over dead.

Clipped by a tooth! A small bite or claw mark is left at the location of the player's choosing.

A quick snap doesn't break the skin on your hand. The shock causes you to drop anything held in that hand.

The scrape across your leg causes you to stumble. You are Dazed for 1 round while you regain your footing.

Your helm is knocked to the side, covering your face, you are lucky you are able to get it off before you get mauled. If you have a full helmet it is knocked off and destroyed. If not, the rake catches you in the head, leaving you Dazed for a round.

Your leg is grabbed, and the monster tries to yank you off of your feet. Make a Dexterity check to remainstanding. The strength of the beast is incrediable. You are Shaken for 1 round by the experience. Bleed 1.

Stout fetid breath causes you to gasp and choke. You are Stunned for 1 round.

A snap at your groin connects. You double over in pain and terror. You are Sunned for 1 round by the frightening wound. First Aid: Sickened. Bleed 1. Internal Bleed 1. Pain 1.

At least its mouth is cleaner than a man's. Probably not now that you think about it. Player gains a new scar in place of their choosing. Bleed 1.

You are viciously gouged as chunks of skin are ripped from your arm. Drop anything held in your arm. First Aid: Arm is useless. Bleed 3. Pain 2.

You use your head to block and a claw knocks your helmet off. If you have a full helmet it is knocked off and destroyed. If not your head is knocked right into his teeth. Your scalp is shredded and blood runs down into your eyes. You are Dazed for 1 round. First Aid: Shaken. Bleed 4. Pain 1.

Your hand is hideously mangled. 1d4 fingers are bitten off. Anything held is dropped. Lost Fingers. First Aid: Staggered. Arm is useless. Bleed 1. Pain 1. Lose 1 Dexterity for each lost finger.

There is a burst of inconceivable agony in your leg as it is torn apart.Roll a 1d6. 1-2 your leg is shredded to pieces at the ankle, 3-4 your leg is shredded to pieces at the knee, 5-6 your leg is shredded to pieces at the hip. You fall prone. Limb severed. Movement cut in half. First Aid: Sickened. Bleed 1d4. Pain 1d4.

Pain streaks down your arm as you rip it from the mouth of the hideous beast.. There is nothing left but shreds of skin. Roll a 1d6. 1-3 Your hand is shredded to pieces at the wrist, 4-5 your arm is shredded to pieces at the elbow. 6 your arm is shredded to piecesat the shoulder. You are stunned for a round. Limb sliced off. Dexterity cut in half. First Aid: Sickened. Bleed 1d4. Pain 1d4.

Your throat is almost torn out, but you manage to block the attack with your shoulder and collarbone. Broken Bones. Permanent -1 to all your statistics. Bleed 2. Pain 2.

If you have a full helmet it is knocked off and destroyed. If not your face is torn apart and your eye is torn out like a little piece of delicious fruit. You are Stunned for 1 round. Lost Eye. First Aid: Sickened. Ranged attacks are at -8. No Depth Perception. Bleed 1. Pain 1.

The bite in your leg doesn't seem that bad at first, then the beast pulls back and a red curtain bursts forth as you collapse on the ground, femoral artery shredded. Everyone within 5' must make a Dexterity check or fall prone.Die Instantly.

Your arm is removed from a tear that reaches from your neck to your abdomen. Your head falls to the side and lands in your guts as you stagger 3d6 feet and fall down dead.

A crushing bite or claw cracks the skull. If you have a helmet it is knocked off and destroyed and you fall unconscious. If no helm, skull is cracked. You fall unconscious. Wisdom and Intelligence -2. First Aid: Death in 1d4 rounds (-1d4 from all statistics.)

It's hard to breath with your throat lying on the ground. Lying on the ground seems like a good idea so you collapse next to it, dead.

But while trying to use it for my own campaign, I got a lot of similar results. There's the fiery mural of wisdom, near the fiery statue of bone. It seems like a great tool for an unexpected venture into the depths, or as a prod to your creativity, but what I was looking for was a table with enough variety to allow me to randomly determine the vast majority of my many many mega-dungeon zones. This post will have the general forms and structure of the name, and the following posts will contain the tables.

Roll 1d12 and Select the Forms:

The (Table A) (Table B)

The (Table A) (Table D or E) (Table B)

The (Table A) (Table B) of (Table C)

The (Table A) (Table B) of (Table D) (Table C)

The (Table A) (Table B) of (Table E) (Table C)

The (Table A) (Table D) (Table C)

The (Table A) (Table E) (Table C)

The (Table A) (Table D) (Table E) (Table C)

The (Table B) of (Table C)

The (Table B) of (Table D) (Table C)

The (Table B) of (Table E) (Table C)

The (Table B) of (Table D) (Table E) (Table C)

Tables to follow.

If you want to view all these tables (and only these tables) you can copy the text to a different file, or you can use the tag "series (megadungeon zone names)" below.

The thrust is smoothly blocked by your cheek. If you have a full helmet it is knocked off and destroyed. If not you are shanked right through your jaw knocking it loose, teeth shatter, blood sprays everywhere. You are Dazed for 1 round. Broken Bones. First Aid: Sickened, Difficulty Speaking, Cannot Cast Spells (Charisma -2). Bleed 2. Pain 1.

The point of their weapon slides along the edge of your hilt, slicing as it goes. 1d4 fingers are sliced off. Anything held is dropped. Lost Fingers. First Aid: Staggered. Arm is useless. Bleed 1. Pain 1. Lose 1 Dexterity for each lost finger.

If you have a full helmet it is knocked off and destroyed. If not your eye explodes like a stuck grape, totally ruining it. You are Stunned for 1 round. Lost Eye. First Aid: Sickened. Ranged attacks are at -8. No Depth Perception. Bleed 1. Pain 1.

Your arm is sliced with a deep gash and torn apart. It hangs from your body by a flap of skin. Roll a 1d6. 1-3 Your hand is sliced off at the wrist, 4-5 your arm is sliced off at the elbow. 6 your arm is sliced off the shoulder. You are stunned for a round. Limb sliced off. Dexterity cut in half. First Aid: Sickened. Bleed 1d4. Pain 1d4.

Your leg is punctured, cutting clear through the bone and ripping the flesh on either side. Roll a 1d6. 1-2 your leg is sliced off at the ankle, 3-4 your leg is sliced off at the knee, 5-6 your leg is sliced off at the hip. You fall prone. Limb severed. Movement cut in half. First Aid: Sickened. Bleed 1d4. Pain 1d4.

The carotid artery is nicked, arterial blood sprays out of the wound in a wide area, creating a beautiful red mist. You fall prone. First Aid: Die in 1d6 rounds. Bleed 6.

Your stomach is stabbed like a ripe melon. You are startled by the contents. Collapse in agony, you fall prone. Constitution check is made each round to maintain consciousness. First Aid: Stunned. Bleed 1d4.

If you have a helmet it is knocked off and destroyed. If not, the point rips through your nose, touching your brain. Die in 1d4 rounds, unconscious until then. Bleed 1d4. Internal Bleed 1d4.

A blood vessel is gouged out of your leg and flips around like a hose spraying blood everywhere. You die from shock and blood loss before your body hits the ground. Everyone within 5' is covered in blood an moving requires a dexterity check at +4 to avoid falling.

Everything below the waist goes numb as your spine is fractured. You fall unconscious. First Aid: Stats Halved (paralyzed from waist down). Bleed 1d4. Internal Bleed 1d4.Your stats are halved till your 10 week recovery period is passed. If not seen by a medic and treated successfully, paralyzed from he waist down.

You are smote. The whack upside the head leaves you Dazed for 1 round.

The weapon smashes into your foot. You hop around trying to sooth the pain. You are Dazed for 1 round. Make a Dexterity check or drop everything you're holding. If not wearing metal shod boots, First Aid: -1" to Movement. Pain 1.

Your groin is mercilessly clobbered. you double over in pain. You are Sickened for 1 round. Pain 1.

A blow slams into your arm. The shock and impact are overwhelming. You are Stunned for 1 round. Fractured Bones. Pain 1. Internal Bleed 1.

A crushing swipe slams right into your leg. Pain shoots up and down your body from the blow. Fractured Bones. First Aid: Movement Halved. Pain 1. Internal Bleed 1.

Yowza! That tore the skin right open. Scar at the place of the players choosing. Bleed 1.

A solid thwack sounds as your arm is viciously bludgeoned. Pain radiates out from the wound. You are Stunned for a round. Broken Bone. First Aid: Arm Useless (-2 Dexterity). Pain 2. Internal Bleed 1.

There is a solid crunch and a burst of pain as your leg is clubbed. Make a Dexterity check to continue standing, otherwise fall prone. Broken Bone. First Aid: Movement Halved (Movement Reduced by a Quarter). Pain 2. Internal Bleed 1.

Your kneecap is crushed as your leg snaps backward, bending in a way it was never meant to by the gods. Youfall prone. Shattered Bone. First Aid: Immobile (Movement Halved). Pain 2. Internal Bleed 1. Bleed 1.

A tremendous swipe crushes your jaw. If you have a full helmet it is knocked off and destroyed. if not, you spit out bone and blood because your jawbone is broken and teeth are knocked out. Broken Bones. First Aid: Sickened, Difficulty Speaking, Cannot Cast Spells (Charisma -2). Bleed 2. Pain 1.

There is a sickening crack as the weapon strikes your hand. 1d4 fingers are bashed to pulp. Anything held is dropped. Lost Fingers. First Aid: Staggered. Arm is useless. Bleed 1. Pain 1. Lose 1 Dexterity for each lost finger.

Crushing strike to abdomen fractures ribs and damages organs. You taste bitter copper as you vomit blood. Fall prone until you make a successful Constitution check. If you are not wearing armor on your torso, you are dead in 2d6 rounds. Fractured Bones. First Aid: Sickened. Internal Bleed 3. Pain 2.

If you have a full helmet it is knocked off and destroyed. If not, you feel tearing pain and see stars and your opponent and your shirt as your eye is ripped from your socked and falls, hanging by your optic nerve. You are Stunned for 1 round. Lost Eye. First Aid: Sickened. Ranged attacks are at -8. No Depth Perception. Bleed 1. Pain 1.

Pain explodes down your arm. Roll a 1d6. 1-3 Your hand is crushed at the wrist, 4-5 your arm is crushed at the elbow. 6 your arm is crushed at the shoulder. You are stunned for a round. Limb crushed. Dexterity cut in half. First Aid: Sickened. Bleed 1d4. Pain 1d4.

You spin and fall as your leg is crushed and bone splinters blast through your leg. Roll a 1d6. 1-2 your leg is crushed at the ankle, 3-4 your leg is crushed at the knee, 5-6 your leg is crushed at the hip. You fall prone. Limb severed. Movement cut in half. First Aid: Sickened. Bleed 1d4. Pain 1d4.

Crunch! is the last thing you hear before everything goes black. You fall Unconsciouness for 1d6 hours. If you have a full helmet it is knocked off and destroyed. If not, Brain Damage, -2 to Intelligence and Wisdom. Internal bleed 1d4.

That blow really knocked the wind out of you. it is doubly hard to breath because of the broken rib that just punctured your lung. You fall unconscious. Lung crushed. Lose 1 point of Constitution.Internal bleed 1d4.

You feel numb instead of pain. Spine broken. Paralyzed from waist down. You will live, sadly.

You feel strange and wet. Skull shattered. Helm destroyed. You smell tulips. Coma for 1d10 weeks. If no helm, death in 1d10 rounds.

Hip is crushed and boneshards puncture femoral artery. Death is at least quick.

The world spins and your neck is broken. You live another 1d12 rounds as you struggle to breathe.

You stumble as your arm and shoulder are crushed to mid-torso. Bones and wreckage are driven into the torso. All internal organs destroyed. Fall over dead.

Lower torso and hip are crushed. You drop to your kneeds and blood gushes out of your mouth until you die 1d4 rounds later.

That hit didn't seem like much, but the bone driven into your kidney begs to differ. Act normally for the next 1d6 rounds, then die of shock.

Your head is hit from above and is smashed down into your torso. Waddle in tearing pain for 1d4 rounds before finally dying in agony.

Thump to chest explodes heart. Eyes bulge in surprise as you drop to one knee and then fall over to the side, dead.

Hit to leg, breaks it in half. Fall forward shattering wrist as you try to stop yourself from falling. Your head bashes against a rock, caving your skull in. Blood pools around your corpse. Dexterity check at +4 for anyone adjacent to avoid slipping.

Blow strikes skull, explodes like a pumpkin hit with a sledge hammer. Everyone within 5' is covered in brain, blood, and bone.

Head is knocked clean off. Batter up!

A titanic swing breaks close to 50 bones. Instant death and body is pulverized and difficult to move.

The edge scrapes across a knuckle. The stinging pain causes you to drop anything held in that hand. Bleed 1.

You are struck by the flat of the blade and see stars. You are Dazed for 1 round.

The weapon strikes you cutting through your armor and clothing. You are now indecent. Anyone who attacks you is at a minus equal to your Charisma modifier.

The blade comes close enough to your face that you lose some hair. You are Shaken for 1 round.

You take a nasty cut across the shoulder. You are Stunned for 1 round. Bleed 1. Pain 1.

A wicked slice to your arm exposes muscle to the bone. Drop anything held in that hand. First Aid: Arm useless. Bleed 2. Pain 1.

This scar will definitely get you laid if you survive.

A vicious chop to your leg is followed by a terrible snap as you feel yourself sag towards the ground. Make a Dexterity check to continue standing, otherwise fall prone. Fractured bones. First Aid: Movement Halved. Bleed 2. Pain 1.

A cut rips open your forehead. Blood gushes down into your eyes. First Aid: Shaken and Blind. Bleed 2.

You jerk your head back, but it's just not far enough. If you have a full helmet it is knocked off and destroyed. If not, the edge of your opponents weapon slices right through your jawbone. Your jawbone is broken and teeth are knocked out. Your mouth is now filled with tooth fragments. Broken Bones. First Aid: Sickened, Difficulty Speaking. Cannot cast spells (Charisma -2). Bleed 2. Pain 1.

You try to block with your hand, but misjudge the distance. You feel a stinging pain in your hand as 1d4 fingers are cut off. Anything held is dropped. Lost Fingers. First Aid: Staggered. Arm is useless. Bleed 1. Pain 1. Lose 1 Dexterity for each lost finger.

You glance to the side and chastise yourself as you completely miss the cruel overhead swipe.If wearing a full helm, it is destroyed. Otherwise, lose an ear. Lost Ear. Checks involving surprise and hearing are cut in half. Pain 1. Bleed 2.

The blade snaps into your chest and you feel several ribs break. You are stunned for 1 round. Broken Bones. First Aid: Sickened. Bleed 1.Internal Bleed 2. Pain 2.

A cut bites deep into your leg and a thick gout of blood flies out as an artery is hit. You fall prone. Bleed 1d4. Pain 1.

Your block left you open and you see a gleam and flash before your head is struck. If you have a full helmet it is knocked off and destroyed. If not, the edge slices open your eye, spilling jelly through the air. You lose an eye. You are stunned for a round. Lost Eye. First Aid: Sickened. Ranged attacks are at -8. No Depth Perception. Bleed 1. Pain 1.

A moment of stillness passes as you watch your arm separate from your body, slowly spinning in the air. Roll a 1d6. 1-3 Your hand is severed at the wrist, 4-5 your arm is severed at the elbow. 6 your arm is severed at the shoulder. You are stunned for around. Limb severed. Dexterity cut in half. First Aid: Sickened. Bleed 1d4. Pain 1d4.

You feel unbalanced for a moment and stumble as your limb falls to the ground. Roll a 1d6. 1-2 your leg is severed at the ankle, 3-4 your leg is severed at the knee, 5-6 your leg is severed at the hip. You fall prone. Limb severed. Movement cut in half. First Aid: Sickened. Bleed 1d4. Pain 1d4.

Your armor, garments, skin, muscles and ribs have all failed you as the edge of your opponents blade slips between them. Fall unconscious. Lung punctured. Lose 1 point of Constitution. First Aid: Die in 2d4 rounds. Bleed 4. Pain 2.

You know what it feels like to be gutted now, as your abdomen is cut open.You die a slow death over the next half-hour. Feel free to collect your guts and genitalia.

Your carotid artery severed and a fountain of blood drenches everyone within 5'. You fall unconscious. Bleed spectacularly to death in 1d4 rounds without aid.

A mighty swing severs the arm across the breastbone. Stumble backwards and die.

Skull cut open, brain cleaved, leaving you with a splitting headache and a serious case of death.

So old school games have a pretty high death rate. Players often start out with few hit points. And when those are gone, they are dead.

Critical systems increase the death rate, and usually leave the players losing out in the long run due to randomness. But D&D combat tends to be very abstract and generic, how to add more of a Appendix N: feel?

What if we handled it a bit differently? Warhammer has an interesting system where if all the wounds are gone, you are just like you always were, just with 0 wounds. Every hit after that then causes a 'critical effect'.

It's a critical table that actually extends the lifespan of the players! Like the great heroes of Appendix N, they don't simply fall over dead, they lose eyes and limbs and have countless crushed bones.

Dying should be fun!

I have created 3 levels of complexity.

Basic information: Being dropped to 0 hit points has no negative effect. You can not drop below 0 hit points.

Super-Simple: When you take a hit that would drop you to, or past 0 hit points, roll 3d12 and consult the table.

Intermediate: When you take a hit that would drop you to, or past 0 hit points, roll 1d6 plus the damage dealt and consult the table.

Keep track of the total number of bleed, internal bleed, and pain points. Roll this many additional d6's when hit to determine your critical.

Complex: When you take a hit that would drop you to, or past 0 hit points, roll 1d6 plus the damage dealt past 0 hit points.

Bleed: Keep track of your bleed total. Each round your bleed increases by the number of times you have taken bleed damage. Add this value to the criticals you receive.

Internal Bleed: Keep track of your internal bleed total. It does not automatically increase. Each round roll 1d100. If the result is equal to or less than your total internal bleed total, you fall over dead. Each point of internal bleed causes you to roll an additional 1d4 when hit to determine your critical severity.

Pain: Keep track of your pain total. Each point of pain reduces all die rolls by 1. (i.e. if you have sustained 2 points of pain, all your attack and damage rolls are at -2). Each round you may make a Constitution check to reduce your pain total by 1. Each point of pain you have adds 1d6 when hit to determine critical severity.

If you are a barbarian, bezerker, or any sort of rage or primitive fighter, pain instead provides a +1 bonus to all rolls

General rules that apply to all the systems above:
Determine which side of the body is struck randomly. Also: when bones are broken or injured, decide randomly, or use what is most exciting. It is suggested that cure light wounds only address hit point damage, and that you require extended rest and healing for wounds involving torn ligaments and bones. i.e. cuts can be healed with spells, but broken bones cannot. A cure critical wounds or heal spell can cure these conditions. Many of these wound will have a negative effect until addressed by a chirurgeon or someone with some degree of medical skill (or a cure critical/heal). On a failure of their skill, they will often leave some permanent damage due to an improperly set bone.When reading the table, effects are separated by a period. If a piece of armor is knocked off or destroyed, don't apply the second part of the effect. Not till the next time at least.

Rest periods for various effects without magical aid (CCW/Heal):

Fractured bones: 1d6+6 weeks

Broken bones: 2+1d6 months

Torn Muscles/Tendons: 1d6+6 weeks

Shattered bones: 8+3d6 months

Organ Damage: 10d6 weeks. 10% chance of death per week.

Second Degree Burns: 1d4 weeks.

Third Degree Burns 2d6 weeks.

If you fall unconscious, you obviously also fall prone. If you get a result that no longer applies ("How many ears do you have again Greg?"), move up to the next higher numbered item in the list.

This post is subject to the Alexandrian Rule - If you use it, you have to come back and report about it.

All conditions are as follows. All these definitions are trivially superseded by the PRD, and are summarized below.

Dazed: The creature is unable to act normally. A dazed creature can take no actions, but has no penalty to AC.Deafened: A deafened character cannot hear. He has a 20% chance of spell failure when casting spells with verbal components.Immobilized: The character is unable to move, but may still take an action each round.The character may move up to half speed with the assistance of another player.Nauseated: Creatures with the nauseated condition experience stomach distress. Nauseated creatures are unable to attack, cast spells, concentrate on spells, or do anything else requiring attention. They may only move and take actions of a similar type (i.e. not attack).Paralyzed: A paralyzed character is frozen in place and unable to move or act.

Prone: The character is lying on the ground. A prone attacker has a –4 penalty on melee attack rolls and cannot use a ranged weapon (except for a crossbow). A prone defender gains a +4 bonus to Armor Class against ranged attacks, but takes a –4 penalty to AC against melee attacks. It takes a turn to stand up.

Stunned: A stunned creature drops everything held, can't take actions, takes a –2 penalty to AC, and loses its Dexterity bonus to AC (if any).First Aid: Condition (Penalty): Some wounds require more than a cure light wounds spell to heal. This wound requires either knowledgeable medical attention or a Cure Critical Wounds or Heal spell to correct the condition after the colon. If a skill is used, and not a spell, failure may carry some sort of permanent penalty or consequence, noted in parentheses.

I have been inspired by the contest, and am at a point where I find myself in need of several good tables, so this week it's table-time!

On the docket:

Critical hit tables that increase survivability and give the game an appendix N flavor!
Mega-dungeon area names
Huge list of items, colors, materials, and artistic themes
Updated to 100 items spellbook traps
Updated another 50 Mega-dungeon hooks (bringing it up to 100)
List of ways to disarm a trap

And more! (Wednesday Review, Thursday Trick, a discussion of some of the best in randomness out there)

Like the majority of my tables, they are most useful as planning aids. I've never gotten the hang of how to make a table be useful while playing, but I'm quite skilled at the comprehensive idea board for the design phase.

An artifact of my prep style I suppose.

If you have any suggestions for tables you'd like to see, give me a comment and let me know!

This is the first example in my design series. The series may be found here.

So, how do we use these tools to improve our game?

The befuddled duke

Well, have you ever had the PC's take part in a murder mystery? These tools are perfect for setting something like this up without resorting to heavy handed tactics.

Clearly an evil wizard

The first place to start is with Power Structure. And the first place to start with that is what the PC's want. To keep this simple we're going to keep the PC's as a single entry on the spider web chart.

We start with Power Structure because this is the most complicated step.

Let's say the players want to stop the evil duke. This is a problem for three reasons.

People don't believe the duke is evil

Access to his land is restricted

The player's don't know that the evil duke is being controlled by his sexy wizard adviser.

So the player characters have 3 goals. Get information about the duke, gain access to his land, and find the people they can trust to share the proof of his evil deeds.

If I knew it was going to be that
kind of party. . .

Now you need some party guests. I'm not going to outline each individual party guest, but you should have someone to host the party, several people allied with the duke, several people allied against the duke, one victim, and a murderer. Note that several of these could be combined.

Also, each person can have a variety of goals and desires, many of which could be solved at this very party, giving the players both information and things to accomplish at the gathering.
.
As an example, let's say there are three party guests that can provide the players access to the duke's land. One is frustrated over the King's new tax, and names a different person at the party who is responsible for that. They party can ask around about his claim, either with the person he named or to other party goers. Then they will get information that he's upset over the tax, because it gives the befuddled duke a financial advantage and they are currently in competition for an estate grant. Now the party has something to offer him in exchange for access to his land.

Because I'm talking about old school games, this is an actual opportunity to role-play, not simply a series of die rolls, though if you were intimidated by the idea of giving the player the information in an interesting memorable way, you could 'roll a die' to determine their success. I recommend against it.

Numerically, it's a good idea to give each person a minimum 3 pieces of information, and 2 things they want, 1 of which can be accomplished at the gathering.

It doesn't matter what the goal of the adventuring party is. I'm sure your current party has a list of a dozen things that they want. Use that, here. Use whatever goals they currently have and allow them to make some progress or headway towards those goals at this party. Looking for a lost artifact? Someone has some information about it. Needing to hinder an opponent? Someone can cause them trouble. Need access to a specific person or item? Someone here knows how to get it. Want access to the thieves guild? This is the entrance test.

You don't need more then 10 actual NPC's at the party. A number around 6 for your actual spiderweb structure is probably best to start. Each should have one or two things that they want and something, either information or resources they can use to help the PC's. One or two could be 'ringers' with no information or desires. I am fond of making ringers romantic interests. These party guests are an excellent method of passing on information about your plots, schemes and gameworld.

When designing these goals, remember that there will be a murder, so someone will die, and someone else will have a reason to kill that person. Each of these people in addition to having information about one of the PC's pre-existing goals will have information about the murder itself, which is likely to become of some pressing concern to the players (because they are suspects, see?)

You can see it will not be difficult between the murder, world information, and player desires to hit those minimum information counts.

Remember the duke? Of course you do, you saw his picture. That's why visual aids and cues are so important. Now you get pictures and write the seven sentence NPC's out for each of the players in our little drama.

The evening session should start with an introduction of each person, and as DM you should give each person something to hang their hook on, in addition to the picture. A stance, prop, voice or some other cue to help your players keep the people separated. It is super maximum best excellent if you can find a way to make a couple of the party guests pre-existing NPC's that the party has met before.

So that's set up our Power Structure. Remember, the PC's don't have to go here to this party, but they're here because they plan on getting something they want.

What do we do next?

We use Space Structure to lay out the environment or 'map' of the party. Contrary to popular thought, a session like this can provide the opportunity to show useful information visually, letting the players see who's allied with who, and allowing personality to show through by where people congregate. It is important when you are laying out this space structure that you have several areas or rooms that are shielded from view of the players. This is important for the murder. Once the layout of your area is completed, you are almost finished.

Finally, you use Time Structure to set a course of events for the evening. These are events that will occur at specific times. You will want to track time closely. If the players have no warning of the murder mystery, they will be looking for opportunity to accomplish their own goals. Keeping close track of time, and informing them of who's leaving and returning from the areas they can see will initially be treated as flavor text. Once the murder occurs it may be far more important. In the past, when I've used this particular technique, my outline generally goes something like this:

6:00 PM Welcome and Introductions (introducing each of the players)
6:10 Introductions over
6:30 Loud disagreement between 2 people (This is an opportunity to pass on information to the players)
6:50 First course (At this point I have given the players each 4 turns to listen and talk to people individually. I use the power structures to guide how I move people around during this time. Then, since everyone is at the table, this is a structured opportunity for more clue dropping and information gathering.)
7:00 Person A excuses themselves, NPC engages players in questioning them over their past or actions, playing up the players notoriety - during this conversation. . .
7:02 Person B excuses themselves
7:05 Person C excuses themselves, players have an option to escape the table, or continue the conversation.
7:15 Persons D & E excuse themselves together
7:30 Duke Announces it's time for the show. "everyone" moves to watch the show.
7:45 Lights dim, start describing whatever entertainment is common in your world.
8:00 Lights come up, moment of silence, then a scream. OH GEEZE DEAD BODY. At this point, there is little need for other scheduled events, because it is assumed the party will take more of an aggressive role in setting the agenda.You can however continue to schedule twists as the evening progresses. (The inspector general shows up! Someone is a witch! Someone else is a doppelganger that had nothing to do with the murder! Another scheme is exposed through investigation! etc.)

I'm batman. Surprise party guest.

I generally allow each player one conversation during each 'turn' or 10 minute period. As you can see, there are 4 actions each PC can take before sitting for the meal, and 4 actions each PC can take while eating but people are leaving while this is occurring. Each interaction is defined by the party learning 1 new piece of information and achieving progress on what they want to know. Many of the guests will want something in return (such as getting the name of that other pretty guest, who won't give it, unless you find something out from a third guest). The fact that the players really only have 8 or so actions to accomplish these tasks should leave them feeling like they didn't have enough time to do everything they want. For a beginner I recommend simply making each of the players take turns, like in combat. Once you are comfortable with this type of time limited interaction, you can switch between players based on cliffhangers and drama.

One of the primary problems found when interacting with NPC's is specifically mitigated within this structure. Mainly that it is not necessary to engage in police room interrogation tactics to find things out, because each person, although reticent to answer direct questions about themselves, is eager to talk about what they want and how other people are keeping them from getting it.

So now you have your Power Structure, Your Space Structure, and your Time Structure, and with these three sheets of paper (and some prep work with your seven sentence NPC's) you can run this entire complex adventure completely prepared for any wrenches the PC's may throw into the night. You are able to adapt to whatever curve balls they throw you. This is possible because you haven't constructed a specific series of events that must happen, but simply defined what everyone wants, and what everyone is doing. This gives you the perspective you need in order to shift gears to whatever the players want to do.

One final note - you should let the players do what they want. If they want to jump up and follow person A from the table, then let them. No matter what they do, they are closing off other options for themselves. You may help explicitly remind them what's at risk if they are having difficulty noting the stakes. (e.g. in this case, not alerting the duke to their plans by letting it slip to someone who's allied with him, and later, not being thrown in jail for murder) Let them make whatever choices they want, and be subject to the natural, logical, and applied consequences of their actions.

Next time, using these tools to create a super dynamic wilderness sandbox.